Have I limited DD's future with an unusual name?

[whatsinaname5]

DD9 is called Raya. Her elder brothers both have traditional, biblical names and that was the plan for her, but DF died just before she was born and she ended up with a "tribute" name, which I also thought was lovely. Hormones.

She likes her name and no issues at school apart from the millions of other names ending with "aya" and "iya", but I have had a sense of dread that she'll be denied job opportunities or friendships because she's being as a chav - or at least someone of a lower class. What if everyone hiring is a Millie or a Hugo and they see Raya on her CV.

Of course there's not much we can do now apart from steer her to use her traditional middle name??

YABU - she's fine! No problem!
YANBU - uh oh ....

My dd name is very unusual (unless you're in the country it originates from) and I spelt it the traditional way.
She hates it still as an adult, people don't pronounce it or spell it properly etc. But she gets jobs no bother.
Raya on the other hand is lovely name, easy to spell and pronounce too. Don't worry.

It's a lovely name.

Thank you so much, everyone. I wish I'd posted years ago. This has genuinely kept me up at night for 9 years panicking

Has it?

Raya isn't chav at all. It's double barrel ?-Rae which is.

That's a nice name @whatsinaname5 I thought you were going to say it was Beyonce or Chardonnay.

I know several successful 20-something young women - uni-educated, and in good successful professional careers - who are called Britney, Kayleigh, Tyler, and Paige.

Not awful names, but names IMO that you wouldn't usually see 'professionals' having.

I mean, they're not yet at the top of the tree in their career, and on £150K a year, but are doing well for 22-27 years old.

Raya is a highly exclusive dating app .. she will be fine

Agree with everyone else on the name, I think it's really nice

Speaking as the mother of a Hugo, I think Raya is a lovely name and I don't think it has any negative connotations whatsoever.

It's actually an app for professional networking and meeting friends to socialise with.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raya_(app)

I used to work with doctors (admin/HR) and there quite a few names that could raise eyebrows if you were so inclined. A few memorable ones were Barbie, Mercedes, Capri, Babe, River & Eden.

They were all fully fledged doctors so I don't think it held them back too much.

Raya's a lovely name.

I dont think it sounds chavvy. I too have given my daughter an unusual name and hope it doesn't haunt her but usually if people comment they say its a lovely name. Some unusual ones do sound chavvy but I don't think Raya does

• I was at Oxford on a kind of exchange scheme, complicated and minorly outing so I won't say which, but several of the first years from the college I was staying in pissed themselves laughing and repeated whatever I said for a few days because my broad Lancashire accent was just "SoOoO fUnNy!!!!!". I got the full gamut of 'hilarious' jokes about it.

And this was quite a lot more recent than OP's experience, so I can well believe she had a similar response*

Not Oxford, but I work a lot of Oxford type people (many went to Oxford, the ones that didn't still come very privileged backgrounds, family money/private schooling) and the more dick-y will claim not understand my northern accent, others either love it or find whatever I'm saying mildly humorous because I 'sound like Sarah Millican' 🙄

Prejudice around accents is very real and utterly ridiculous

Nah, it's fine. She can change it later if there is a problem.

It's a lovely name- don't worry!

A few memorable ones were Barbie, Mercedes, Capri, Babe, River & Eden.

What's wrong with Mercedes?

@MajesticallyAwkward I have to say, the 'Geordie' accent is the best accent. I could listen to it all day.

I think Raya is a beautiful name.

My DH of over a decade still claims he can't follow if I'm excited or angry. And gets infuriated at my pronunciation (ball/bowl is an endless source of frustration 😂😂)

I think it is a lovely name.

Are you sure it wasn't Portia?

This has reminded me of A Fish Called Wanda 😂

I used to teach a beautiful little Lebanese girl called Raya, it’s a lovely name

I would assume she wasn't just white English but nothing else other than. Out of interest, why not Rae?

I do think Rae would be a bit limiting actually.

Only if the recruiters are racist because the name raya sounds like a south east asian name.
Besides that its not my cup of tea kinda name. But its not unusual or out there.

It is.. however the name of an..interesting app

Sorry, this is a non issue. If you had called her Lucifer or Hitler...who cares if she is called Raya.